Description

Sea Hero Quest is a game about navigating a naval vessel in a 3D environment. More than just a game, it was developed with support from scientists from University College London, University of East Anglia and Alzheimer's Research, to gather data from the players. As the loss of navigational skills is one of the first symptoms of dementia, the players' data is used to create a crowd sourced data set to benchmark human spatial navigation to compare deviations against. Players can choose not to send data anonymously as well. Optionally three additional questions can be answered to fine-tune the data: sex, age and country.

The game was launched with four environments (Arctic Rivers, Golden Shores, Mystic Marshes and Kano Reef). Each one has a different environment and consists of fifteen levels each, divided over three sets. In the first three levels the player is shown a 2D map with two or more navigation points. The map needs to be memorized and then the correct trajectory needs to be followed by navigating the route with a vessel in 3D. Two virtual buttons left and right are used to steer. Swiping upwards provides a boost and downwards halts the ship. When the correct buoy is reached, a green circle appears and then the next one needs to be located until the trajectory is complete. The player's performance is always rated with up to three stars. The fourth level is different: there is a starting buoy and a flare pistol needs to be found. Once at the pistol the player needs to remember the position of the starting buoy relative to the ship and choose one of three trajectory options to fire the pistol. In the fifth and final level a sea monster needs to be located. In this level there is no free movement, the player needs to swipe left and right to avoid obstacles. When close enough to the creature the screen needs to be tapped in a timely fashion to take a good picture.

The stars provided for progressing through the game unlock customization options for the ship, such as flags, general colours and an item on the back of the ship. Each completed level provides a piece of artwork and the photographs of the creatures are stored in the same gallery.